Passionate, visionary and disruptive. So are the women entrepreneurs of Mexico that are transforming the country and generating jobs through the creation of micro, small, medium and large companies. Only 37% of the companies that open in the Mexican territory are founded by women in an age range between 18 and 65 years, according to data from the Association of Entrepreneurs of Mexico (ASEM).
Although the entrepreneurial activity of women has increased significantly in recent years, there are still tasks to be done to make it easier for them to open businesses and close the gap in opportunities that exists. For example, women entrepreneurs they receive an amount of financing 23% less than that obtained by men, according to figures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
For this reason, ASEM carried out the Entrepreneurial Summit 2022 last October 6 at the facilities of the Centro university in Mexico City, where Entrepreneur.com participated as one of the main allies of the event. During the summit, the challenges and opportunities that exist in Mexico for female entrepreneurship were raised, with the purpose of recognizing the role of female entrepreneurs in the country’s development and addressing the main challenges in business creation.
“It is important to make visible the conditions in which they undertake, in aspects such as business profitability, financing and investment, company profiles, development opportunities, digital presence, among other aspects. We need to reduce the inequality gap between women and men in order to have a faster development in the country”, said Juana Ramírez, president of the ASEM Board of Directors.
Public policy and technological skills, keys in entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurs, government representatives and business chambers, as well as business specialists, participated in the event. For her part, Fadlala Akabani, Secretary of Economic Development of Mexico City, explained the importance of building an economy that generates opportunities for all, that does not exclude women entrepreneurs and those less favored sectors to open businesses.
During the panel ‘The role of business organizations in economic development’, Sofía Pérez, National President of the Coordinating Council of Women Entrepreneurs (CCME), pointed out the need to implement public policies of economic impact for women that favor their business activity.
In this sense, Sonia Garza, National President of the Mexican Association of Women Heads of Companies (AMJE) added that “it is necessary to add women to the economy and value chains so that Mexico can progress.” In addition, she invited women not to operate in the informal sector and become professional in order to have access to better opportunities and resources to undertake such as financing and training. Let us remember that eight out of 10 Mexican entrepreneurs are informal, according to data from the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO).
Another of the areas of opportunity that was put on the table during the Entrepreneurial Summit 2022, was the creation of technology companies that in Mexico are a minority, being the lack of STEAM skills (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, for its acronym in English). ) one of the main reasons.
In this regard, Silvia Dávalos, General Director of Public Policies and Commissions at the Business Coordinating Council (CCE), said that Mexico needs more women with technological skills and that it is essential to promote STEAM skills from basic education. Thus, girls could see that their abilities are not limited, and that they can have access to better job opportunities and entrepreneurship in the future.
Recognition of entrepreneurial merit
As part of this event and to praise both the effort and the impact generated by Mexican entrepreneurs, the ASEM presented the award Entrepreneurial Impulse to the Universidad Centro for being an institution that works from the educational field in favor of entrepreneurship. This award was also given to the Apolo 25 communication consultancy and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for their work to promote startups and entrepreneurs in Mexico.
For the first time, ASEM awarded the prize Boosting Women Entrepreneurs to recognize those who have contributed significantly to the development of Mexican entrepreneurs. This award was received by the businesswoman Gina Diez Barroso given the support it has provided to women entrepreneurs throughout its history through initiatives such as Dahlia Empower.
This was part of what was experienced during the Entrepreneurial Summit 2022. An event that allowed us to see that despite the prejudices that exist regarding the capabilities of women entrepreneurs and the lack of better conditions to undertake, they are creating opportunities , make their way to stand out in the market and work together to make Mexico a better country.